NIC: Building a Self-Funded Future One Portal at a Time

Like many CIOs across the country, Utah chief information officer Val Oveson predicts the term "eGovernment" will one day be archaic.

"At some point, we won't call it eGovernment because it will simply be business as usual," Oveson explained. "If we stay the course, I expect the vast majority of government services will be delivered online in the future."

For Utah and many other state and local governments, that "future" is already here. Throughout the country, government portals and online constituent transactions are becoming more prevalent, and in many locations they are absolutely vital to basic citizen- and business-government interaction.

Still, the current state of the national economy has many governments questioning their own ability to move toward a more digitized age.

"These are fiscally challenging times. Government leaders are now faced with a strategic choice," said Dr. Paul Taylor, chief strategy officer of the Center for Digital Government, a national think tank and advisory institute on information technology. "They can try to adapt to service demands and economic challenges by following the traditional service delivery model -- over the counter, through the mail and on the phone. Or these leaders can become proactive about using new, less expensive channels to improve access and satisfy citizens and businesses."

As more state and local governments seek to serve the public through the Web, one company -- NIC -- is providing the expertise, skills, manpower and even the financial facility to do so.

Combining its commitment to strong partner relationships with a unique self-funded model, NIC manages eGovernment portals for 16 states and several cities and counties. As the nation's leading provider of outsourced eGovernment Web portals, NIC operates Web-based solutions that serve more than 51 million people across the country.

"NIC is a unique organization because our company has a true partnership philosophy," explained Harry Herington, NIC's chief operating officer. "We are only successful when our government partners are successful, and we leverage our experience to ensure that all of our state and local partners share in the benefits."

NIC: More Than a Vendor
In a traditional business sense, NIC has the professional personnel, established techniques and proven applications to design and maintain an effective government Web presence. But in a very nontraditional approach, NIC is dedicated to acting as a true partner to the governments it serves.

"We never take our partners for granted, and we always remain sensitive to their needs," said Jeff Fraser, NIC's chief executive officer. "Our long-term partnerships are unique in government contracting and continue to deliver outstanding value to our partners and the citizens and businesses they serve."

Indeed, Maine Secretary of State Dan Gwadosky considers NIC just such a long-term partner.

"We have had an extraordinary relationship with NIC," Gwadosky said. "We like to say we're in the business of democracy, and NIC is definitely helping us in furthering that business."

Commitment to Delivering Results
Working as a long-term partner rather than a short-term vendor means NIC remains committed to making eGovernment information and operations as functional and beneficial as possible.

"NIC seeks to maintain long-term relationships and, in fact, we have never lost one of our self-funded partners," said Herington.

Officials in Maine recently renewed their long-term contract with NIC and plan to add several new online services over the next year.

"We've had phenomenal success with fundamentally changing the way people in Maine enjoy government services," said Gwadosky. "We launched 20 new services over the last three years, and have had adoption rates as high as 95 percent. Our portal is now very much as we once envisioned it could become."

NIC's current partner list includes Virginia, Tennessee, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana. Each